


Fool’s Gold

by Softchelles



Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: F/M, Fake Dating, Far from home speculation, asshole side characters, tags to be updated
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2019-07-18 13:29:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16119440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Softchelles/pseuds/Softchelles
Summary: “So. Here’s the thing. You? Cannot turn a girl down to save your life. That girl will eat you alive. And I’ve got a chauvinistic asshat on my hands who doesn’t view me as an actual human being, just a prize to be won.”“Right. Because you are. Obviously.” There was heavy sarcasm in his words. If she wasn’t in the middle of breaking down the game plan, she would’ve commended him for it. She would’ve taken a second to be proud.“So you can help me, I can help you. Get both of them off our backs with no major drama, and we can enjoy the rest of this trip in peace.”“Let me just make sure I understand....they think we’re together and leave us alone?”“Exactly.”“Alright.”“Alright?”“Let’s do this.”





	1. “Let’s Do This”

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! So! A couple things. This is kind of a follow up to my other piece, Jackpot, where Peter and Michelle and the rest of the gang were at a fancy dinner, because I decided they’re a part of this cool international meet up for high schoolers that are hella smart, and that’s there that they meet Mary and Nathan, who both go to Standard Academy, a school I will dig into later. They’re both kind of the worst, which again, can be explored later. But they’ve both taken up interest in Peter and MJ, respectively. I do wanna say Nathan makes a couple comments— there’s no implications of him doing anything or trying anything, but they’re definitely asshole comments. Kind of along the lines of the garbage Gaston pulls in beauty and the beast. So if that kind of stuff bothers you at all, please be careful. This is an official WARNING. I’m not 100% sure how to tag that, I suck at tagging. So any suggestions for that would be great.
> 
> If this is a story you’d potentially want to see more of, let me know? 
> 
> I’m on Twitter @softchelles
> 
> I also apologize because I’m not a writer, I suck at it, I’m AWARE. But I get story ideas in my head anyways, and I want to try and express them. Especially since we still have so far to go until far from home comes out. I’m out here starving for more Peter and Michelle.
> 
> So yeah, let me know whatcha think! Cool thx bye!

The incessant chatter mixed with the sounds of silverware clanking against plates and the elevator that let out a loud DING every time someone arrived on their floor was annoying, to say the least. It was 9:13 in the morning, and all Michelle wanted to do was wrap up the last few pages of the book she was reading and finish her apple juice in peace. Apparently, the universe had other plans. Because added to the soundtrack of her morning was the sound of a chair being dragged next to hers

There were a pair of eyes on her while she read, which wasn’t anything new. This was a common occurrence back home at the lunch table. Peter and Ned would slide into their seats, respect the fact that she was reading, and allow her to join and leave the conversation at will. It was nice. She could focus on her book, jump in to offer her input on their lame lunch debates (because Leeds was right, Thor would probably kick Hulk’s ass, but Hulk was still way cooler), and return to her story with no judgment. It was totally up to her

But this intruder was not Peter.   
And it didn’t seem Iike he would be giving her much of a choice. 

“Whatcha reading?” 

She could smell the expensive cologne he’d overly doused himself in, probably to distract or compensate for areas in which he lacked. Gross. “A book.”

“I can see that. Michelle, right?”

“Right.” 

“What’s a pretty girl like yourself doing all alone over here?” 

She wanted to roll her eyes, but that would require moving her focus off the page, and the time before breakfast was over and their first seminar began was dwindling, so she didn’t have time to waste. Especially for someone she had zero interest in.

The rest of the team might have bought into it. Nathan Summers, the charmer with the perfectly symmetrical face— Standard High’s own Adonis, going around the room, making everyone want to be him or be with him, or maybe somewhere in the middle trying to figure out which want was greater. But Michelle was a pretty decent judge of character. It came with her above average observational skills. And in the very short amount of time she spent talking with him, before swooping in to save Peter from his equally obnoxious friend, Mary, she knew: something was off. And she wanted no part of it.

“Ah, so it’s like that?”

If he was waiting for her to ask ‘like what’, he was going to be waiting a long time. 

Apparently, he decided he had waited long enough. He leaned in closer, the stench of his cologne growing stronger as he leaned in to whisper, breath hot and unwanted and pressing into her curls. “That’s fine. I like a good challenge.”

Bingo. He’s an ass. She was right.  
Because of course she was.

Ding ding ding.

The elevator announced another arrival, and both their heads turned to watch as Peter Parker stepped out. His hair was a disaster, an unbrushed floofy mess that matched the rest of his ensemble: a plaid shirt, half tucked into his jeans, on top of another one of his iconic science pun shirts. To any outsider, it looked like he had just rolled out of bed and was running late to breakfast. But Michelle was no outsider, and she knew better.

All of this was beside the point, however. Because Nathan was an outsider, and she could physically feel how his demeanor shifted once Peter entered the room. 

Good. Let it shift. She was getting the hell out of here.

“If you’ll excuse me,” she announced, throwing back the rest of her apple juice in one go before tucking her book under one arm and throwing the strap of her bag over the other. She could feel Nathan’s eyes on her as she crossed the room towards Peter.

“MJ, hey!” he greeted with a grin.

“You’re late,” she informed him. 

“Yeah, I know,” he sighed, reaching for a bagel. Even though he was the last one to show up, there were still plenty of leftovers neatly arranged on a table entirely dedicated to bagels. “There was this thing, the shower, it was-“  
“Yeah, yeah, I know. It’s fine, whatever.”

“Right,” he replied sheepishly. There was something in his voice, a hint of knowing. Like he knew she didn’t buy it. Like he knew she knew. But neither of them had acknowledged it, and maybe at this point they never would. 

Their eyes met and something inside clicked, like he knew that she knew that he knew she knew, and before anyone could really process what that meant, his changed, focus shifting to somewhere behind her. “Oh God,” he cringed, jumping behind a pillar. “It’s her.”

“Who?” Michelle asked. It didn’t take long to scan the room and find her answer: Mary. She was also scanning the room, clearly looking for someone. Probably the someone hiding behind a pillar next to the bagel bar.

“She’s so, intense,” Peter sighed. “And— I’m flattered, really. I’m just—“

“Not interested?” Michelle finished for him.

“Yeah.”

Michelle glanced back at Nathan, who was pretending he hadn’t been watching their interaction as Mary joined him at the table. 

“I know the feeling.”

Nathan not so subtly nodded towards them, and she watched as Mary followed his motions and found their hiding spot beside the bagels. God. This was awful.

Nathan was on his feet.

Mary was following.

They were both walking towards the bagel bar.

Michelle turned back to Peter, who was clearly seeing what she was seeing and had the same frantic, panicked, ‘what should we do?!’ pleasing in his eyes.

“Don’t freak out,” she warned, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“I’ll try not to.” His eyes were still on them, and she realized her words were lost in translation. He probably thought she was trying to give him some last minute encouragement before they were bombarded by Nathan and Mary.

“No, not about that.”

“Then what am—“

She didn’t give him a chance to finish the question. Because her hand shifted from his shoulder to his chin, pulling his face towards hers and placing a kiss against his lips.

That’s what it was really, Michelle placing her lips on his, because he was so caught off guard she could physically feel the shock radiating through his body, seeping out through his unmoving lips. It hardly counted. She was about to pull back, apologize, because it was a stupid idea to throw Nathan and Mary off and she didn’t ask for his permission ahead of time and that really wasn’t cool on her end— when she felt a hand snake through her curls. He was kissing back. 

Now it was her turn to be caught off guard. Because it was actually kind of nice. And for the briefest of moments, her horrible excuse of a plan was put on her brain’s back burner because wow, this actually wasn’t half bad. 

The sound of Nathan clearing his throat beside them pulled them both from the moment.

“Nathan, I don’t think you got a chance to meet my boyfriend, Peter,” Michelle explained.

A lot of things happened all at once.

Nathan’s eyes narrowed.  
Mary’s jaw dropped.  
Peter’s eyes flicked between the three of them as the puzzle pieces of her plan started to get pieces together.

“She’s a your girlfriend?” Mary laughed, eyeing Michelle in disbelief. Michelle straightened up, refusing to shrink under the scrutiny of her examination and Nathan’s furious gaze. 

“Yeah, Crazy, right?” Peter’s hand reached into her own. He gave a light, reassuring, ‘I’ve got your back’ kind of squeeze before continuing. “She’s so out of my league.”

“So crazy,” Nathan agreed, eyes still narrow and watching, searching for any holes in this story they were presenting. Mary’s did the same.

“Not that this isn’t fun or anything, but Peter I think I left my phone in your room this morning, so we should probably go get that before—“ her voice trailed off, and he immediately picked it up. 

“Oh, yeah, right. Of course. Let’s go get that.”

With one hand she waved spitefully over her shoulder, and with the other she dragged Peter towards the elevator, not wiping the sickeningly sweet and sarcastic smile from her face until the doors shut.

“So.” He broke the silence first, the second they were alone. 

“So,” she repeated. “Here’s the thing. You? Cannot turn a girl down to save your life. That girl will eat you alive. And I’ve got a chauvinistic asshat on my hands who doesn’t view me as an actual human being, just a prize to be won.”

“Right. Because you are. Obviously.” There was heavy sarcasm in his words. If she wasn’t in the middle of breaking down the game plan, she would’ve commended him for it. She would’ve taken a second to be proud.

“So you can help me, I can help you. Get both of them off our backs with no major drama, and we can enjoy the rest of this trip in peace.”

“Let me just make sure I understand....” 

She leaned against the wall of the elevator, watching as he ran his hands over his face, his brain taking a second to process her proposal. “So we do what we did back there so that they think we’re together and leave us alone?” 

“Exactly.”

She watched with baited breath, not really sure why waiting for his answer was making her heart race. It really was a dumb idea, and she wouldn’t blame him at all for saying so. The more she thought about it, yeah, this was stupid. This was dumb. She was bracing for the impact of his rejection. She was preparing for him to say no.

Not once, in the moments of painfully awkward silence, did Michelle Jones think to prepare for a yes.

“Yeah,” he nodded, slowly, hesitantly. “Alright.”

“Alright?” she answered, but it came out like a question.

“Yeah. Alright. Let’s do this.”


	2. Fool Proof

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Put your arm around me.”
> 
> “What?” 
> 
> “I said, put your arm around me, loser.”
> 
> “Wha— now?”
> 
> “Yes. Now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Enjoy this garbage typed up on an iPhone at 1:30 in the morning, and find me @softchelles if you wanna discuss this, or any of the content we’ve gotten thanks to prague and venice, because WOW! We’re getting FED! And I’m terrified and excited all at once.

“Alright, so we’ve been dating for three months.”

“Okay.” Peter followed along, both literally and figuratively, as Michelle led them back to the convention and created the backstory of their fictitious relationship. 

“And we didn’t tell anyone until now.”

“Wait,” he stopped, pausing in the hallway. “What about Ned?” 

Michelle stopped walking and turned to face him, a confused expression written across her face. “What about Ned?”

“Well he’s going to freak out,” Peter insisted. “So we have to tell him it’s not—“

“No, absolutely not.”

“What?! Why not?”

“Because Ned can’t lie to save his life. Nope. We’re not telling him.”

Peter winced, looking down the hallway into the room where the seminar was taking place— where his best friend was waiting with no idea what had happened, what was about to happen. “He’s going to be hurt if he thinks we’ve been dating for three months and I didn’t tell him.”

“Fine,” Michelle sighed, a compromise forming in her mind. “We’ve only been dating a month. And I threatened to kill you if you told anyone, including Ned, so all the blame falls on me. He’ll forgive you.”

“Thank you.”

Michelle searched his face, looking for any signs that he was regretting this. She found none. Good. “Now—” She stretched out her hand, wiggling her fingers in the air. “Hold my hand and let’s get this over with.”

“Right.”

His hand connected with hers and they fell to the space between them. They continued down the hall, paces matched, hand in hand, before stepping into the convention space as what they were intending to look like: an item.

The room was buzzing, everyone waiting for the presentation to begin. They both stood in the doorway, scanning room for a few seconds before Michelle pointed out the empty seats next to the rest of the Midtown team. 

“Excuse us,” Peter apologized as they crawled over the laps of everyone already seated. His hand never dropped hers, and Michelle was ready to pull it back, because honestly it would be a lot easier to weave through the chairs without Parker dragging her through the crowd. But right before she could make that decision, she caught him motioning with his head to the seats a few rows back. She followed, eyes landing on Nathan and Mary, who appeared to already be staring. Awesome.

 

They finally made it tonthe seats, Peter stepping to the side so that Michelle could sit first, which would’ve usually resulted in an eye roll, but she could feel the glares from a few rows back. So instead she flashed an overly sweet grin, thanking him before sliding into her chair. He smiled back before taking the seat next to her.

“Uh. Hey guys,” Ned leaned over, stretching across Sally to get their attention, who also seemed to be staring at them. They had clearly made an entrance. “What’s up?”

She could feel Peter tense up. She knew that he sensed Ned was pushing for an explanation. They had both broken free from the rest of the group, and when they came back they were all smiles and hand holds. Of course this would raise a few questions, lead to a few conclusions, none of which would lead to the truth of the situation. But that was good. Nobody needed to know the truth, not if this was going to work. And it was going to work.

“Not much,” Michelle quickly answered for the both of them, turning her attention to the stage. Peter shifted uncomfortably next to her, like he wanted to say something. She knew he wanted a chance to explain. Silently she begged him to just shut up and focus on the task at hand. It was fine. Everything was going to be fine. 

“What are you guys—“ Ned tried again.

“Quiet, Leeds,” Michelle cut him off. “The presentation’s about to start.”

The phrase “saved by the bell” is an expression which usually means someone is rescued from a dire outcome due to a timely occurrence. In this instance, the bell was a person. Doctor Jessica Albright, with long blonde hair and a million dollar smile she flashed as she marched across the stage. “Hello everyone and welcome!” she beamed, waving as she greeted them. She started to go off on a tangent about how it was such an honor to be surrounded by such beautiful, intelligent minds— how kids like them made her optimistic for the future, how their generation had the power to change the world. It probably was a very nice speech, but all Michelle could think of were the pairs of eyes shooting daggers at the back of her head.

“Put your arm around me,” she whispered, eyes staying focused on the stage.

“What?” Peter whispered back.

“I said, put your arm around me, loser.”

“Wha— now?”

“Yes. Now,” she replied, continuing to whisper through gritted teeth. “They’re still watching. Do it.”

“Fine.”

A moment passed and he still hadn’t moved.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m waiting for the moment.”

“What moment?”

“You know, the moment. Like, when it’s right to— make a move.”

“Oh my God, Parker, just do it.”

He stretched his arm up, as if he were yawning, before letting it land on her shoulder.

“You’re so lame,” she hissed.

“I know, but it worked,” he smirked, turning to look over their shoulders and gauge the reactions of their unwanted suitors. It was then that she realized she had never really noticed his dimples. They were there, obviously, she had seen them before. They just weren’t his most prominent feature. But here, up close, she saw them, poking around the corners of his smile, matching the crinkles by his eyes, and it turns out they were a lot more visible than she originally thought. 

Huh.

Weird.

“If they buy it they’ll have to leave us alone,” he interrupted her thoughts— whatever those were, and pulled her back to their situation.

“Exactly. They’ll back off, and we can relax and go about the rest of this trip in peace.”

“Do you lovebirds mind?!” Flash snapped from the row behind them. “It’s great that you’re both clearly a thing now, but save whatever you’re whispering about for your pillow talk. The rest of us are trying to pay attention.”

This time Michelle did roll her eyes, sitting back and allowing her body to relax into his, not putting too much thought into the way his muscles tensed and instead trying to return her focus to the speaker. Because that what they were here for. The speaker. The convention. The trip. And two freaks like Nathan and Mary weren’t going to ruin it.

The plan would work.

It was fool proof.


	3. Sticking to the Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't want to talk about this cringe fest, I'm literally not even going to read through this to see if it makes SENSE, we're all just going to pretend this never happened, okay? 
> 
> Ignore this completely.
> 
> And also help me report twitter user hughesytweets for extortion

He couldn’t remember a time his hands had ever been so sweaty.

 

And that’s saying a lot, because Peter’s  _ Spider-Man _ , and sweat, along with blood and tears, comes with the job. But Michelle held his hand for the entirety of the speech. And he could feel it-- his was sweaty and clammy and honestly just  _ disgusting _ . 

 

And still, she held onto it the  _ entire time _ . 

 

It seemed to work, though. There was no missing the pointed glares from both Mary and Nathan as the audience started to disperse. A murmur rose over the crowd as everyone started to file out of the auditorium, and yet the weight of their whispering carried across the room. 

 

“Do you think it worked?” he leaned towards Michelle, because Nathan and Mary didn’t own the rights to whispering in a crowded room. 

  
  


“I think we’re about to find out… laugh at something I said.”

 

He didn’t ask why, following her lead with a fake laugh just in time for Satan’s children to catch up with them. 

 

“Quite the presentation?” Nathan grinned-- and it was hard to tell if it was a statement or a question. The way his eyes flicked down to Peter’s hand in Michelle’s, maybe it wasn’t about the expo at all. 

 

“It was, yeah,” Peter agreed with a nod, making a point to look anywhere but at Mary’s eyes he could feel trying to get a read on his. “Really good. Interesting stuff.” 

 

Michelle squeezed his hand in a movement that was probably meant to offer some form of reassurance. All it did was remind him how sweaty and gross he felt-- and anxious. Why was he so anxious? What was there to be nervous about? Everything was fine.

 

“A few of us were wanting to get together later. Maybe have some drinks--”

 

“We’re not 21,” Michelle cut Nathan off. 

 

But Mary was quick with a rebuttal. “That doesn’t really matter here.”

 

It was Peter’s turn to try. “Parties aren’t really our thing.”

 

“Party?”

 

Of course.

That’s the precise moment Flash and the rest of the Midtown team decided to regroup by the exit. “Count me in.”

 

“No, Peter’s right,” Michelle insisted. “And honestly, with this jet lag-- guys, a party right now sounds….”

 

“Like fun,” Ned interrupted. “Maybe a good chance to hang out, get caught up…” 

 

Someone somewhere started to iron out the details of this impromptu get together, but Peter was far too focused on the carpet to pay attention. If he studied the swirls on the floor, he could pretend he didn’t see the way Mary was openly and unabashedly trying to make eye contact. He could ignore Nathan’s disbelief, or the way Ned’s face fell when he mentioned catching up.

 

As far as his best friend knew, there was a lot to catch up on.

  
  


Yeah.

 

The carpet of this hotel auditorium was nice.

 

“Hey, we’re gonna go get some air.”

 

He hadn’t registered Michelle’s announcement-- hadn’t realized  _ he _ was a part of  _ we _ , until she led him by the hand out the room. She was still holding his hand, his dumb, gross, sweaty hand, until they arrived in another empty hallway. Once the coast was confirmed to be clear, she dropped it. 

 

It fell, defeated, into his lap, as he collapsed onto a bench. “Do you think it worked?”

 

“I think…” The hesitation filled pause between her words was answer enough. “We convinced Ned.”

 

“We convinced Ned,” Peter repeated, scooting to the side so that she could sit down next to him. 

 

A silence fell between them. A long one. Not uncomfortable, yet, but getting dangerously close to the line where it was about to be awkward. 

 

Someone had to break it.

 

“I’m--”

“--sorry.”

 

Both of them apologizing at the same time seemed to do the trick.

  
  


“No. Wait. Listen. I’m sorry.” Michelle ran her hands over her face, letting out a groan before continuing. “This was a really dumb idea. I didn’t mean to stress you out. Or embarass you.”

 

“It didn’t--” Peter cut her off. “--embarrass me.”

 

“Okay… well then, put you into an uncomfortable situation…. With the whole pretending to date me thing. I just thought it would get them off our backs and we could enjoy the rest of the trip without having these two weirdos breathing down our necks. But clearly that’s not the case.” She sighed, glancing back at him with a brow quirked inquisitively. “What are you sorry for?”

 

“That my hands were so sweaty.”

 

Michelle let out a laugh. It was a laugh he hadn’t heard before. Actually,  _ laugh _ might have been too generous in its phrasing.

 

“Did you…. Did you just  _ snort _ ?” 

 

“What-- no. I did  _ not _ .”

 

Her trademark stoic glare was back, but the laugh still echoed in his brain, burned into his memory for the rest of eternity.

 

“Are you sure? Because it kind of sounded like you did.”   
  
“No I didn’t, shut up.”

 

He tried, he really tried, but his shoulders shook as he fought a laugh of his own. 

 

“I mean it! Stop! I’m already going to have to think of a new plan to get this weirdo to leave me alone. I’ve suffered enough.”

 

“Sorry. I’m sorry,” Peter grinned, letting the laugh die in his chest before responding. “But you’re wrong.”

 

“About?”

 

“The new plan. I mean, we convinced Ned, right? And Flash. And so we go to this stupid party, convince a few more people. Stick to the plan.”

 

“Are you sure?”

“Am I sure?” Peter stood up, blinking down at her with furrowed brows. “Yeah I’m sure. It’s my plan.”

 

“Uh no. No it’s not,” Michelle argued, standing up alongside him. “This was my plan.”

 

“We can share the credit. Deal?”

 

He held his hand towards hers. She rolled her eyes before begrudgingly shaking his. “You’re right. Your hands are really sweaty.”

 

“Yeah,” he replied sheepishly. “But if you tell anyone, I’ll tell them about how you  _ snort _ when you laugh.”

 

“Peter, I swear to God…”

 

But he was already walking down the hallway, back to the expo. “Come on, MJ. Keep up.”


End file.
